Vending-machine



W. G. TEMPLETON.

VENDING MACHINE.

" APPLICATION FILED SEPT-30,19l9. 1,385,933. I n d July 26,1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

g/iym" ammo w. e. TEMPLETON. VENDING MACHINE.

WII LLIAM G. TEMPLETON, OF COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO.

VENDING-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 26-, 1921.

Application filed September 30, 1919. Serial No. 327,414.

To all whom it may can earn Be it known that I, WILLIAM G. TEMPLE- TON a citizen of the United States, residing at Colorado Springs, in the county of El Paso and State of Colorado, have invented a new and useful Vending-Machine, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to vending machines and is designed more especially as an improvement upon the structure disclosed in Patent No. 1,293,979 issued to me on Feb. 11th, 1919.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide a machine capable of delivering stamps, checks, tickets, or the like in rows or transverse strips and to combine with the machine an indicator card or the like containing a novel arrangement of data whereby the user of the machine can, without hesitation, place the operating finger in correct position to dispense the number of stamps or other articles desired, whether said articles be requested by their value, the number of rows or the total number of articles.

Another object is to provide a combined weight and guide plate for use in connection with wide strips of stamps,- tickets, or like articles, whereby the strips are held in proper position and will not buckle during the dispensing operation.

Another object is to provide a simple and efficient cutter movable transversely of the machine and which has means for yieldingly holding it in normal position.

A still further object is to provide simple and compact means for multiplying the speed of the cutter so as to insure a clean cut of the material being severed.

Another object is to combine a counter with the machine whereby the total number of stamps or other articles dispensed will be indicated, the means for actuating the counter being easy to operate and simple and accurate. 7

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention consists of certain novel details of construction and combinations of parts which will be hereinafter more fully described and pointed out in the claims, it being understood that various changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings the preferred form of the invention has been shown.

In said drawings- Figure 1 is a plan view of the machine having the present improvements, parts belng broken away.

F g. 2 is a section on line 2-2, Fig. 1.

F g. 3 is a section on line 3 -3, Fig. 1.

F 1g. 4 is a section on line 4-4, Fig. 3.

Referring to the figures by characters of reference, 1 designates a housing the rear portion of which forms a receptacle 2 adapted to hold the material to be dispensed. This material, which can be postage stamps, or the like, is preferably to be in a roll and the free end portion of the material is to be extended over a flat supporting strip. or partition 3 extending from the compartment 2 to the front end of the housing and located below the top of the housing. Brackets 1 are secured to the sides of the housing at the front thereof and support a guide rod 5 on which a block 6 is mounted to slide. This block has a cutting wheel journaled therein, as shown at 7 and the 'shaft 8 of the wheel is provided with a gear 9 which is adapted to engage and to be rotated by a stationary rack 10 which is close to and parallel with the rod 5 and is attached at its ends to the sides of the housing. Both, the guide rod and the rack are above the level of thesupporting partition 3 and secured to the front of the housing slightly below the levelof the partition 3 is a stationary shearing blade or strip 11 with which the wheel. 7 cooperates. Any suitable means may be provided for holding the wheel 7 normally at one side of the housing with the block 6 against one of the brackets 4. For example a flexible member 12 may be connected to the block 6 and extended partly around a guide pulley 13 secured to one of the brackets 4;, the said member then projecting backwardly along one side of the housing land beingconnccted to a spring 14; which is attached to the housing. Thus when the block 6 is moved along the rod 5away from its normal position the spring will be placed under increased stress and the cutting wheel 7 will be rotated at a high speed relative to the blade or strip 11, due to the meshing of the gear 9 and rack 10, thus effectively cutting strip material fed across the path of the wheel.. After the cutting operation has been completed the block 6 can be released amp when; the member 20' is receiving members and the spring will promptly return the arts to normal positions.

The sheetof materialto-becut is adapted to be held flat upon the supporting partition 3 by a combined weight and" guide plate 15 one end of which normally lies close to the path the other or ened by a cross reject beyond back end of the plate is stiiirod 16 the ends of which the sides of: the plate and into slots 17 formed in the inner surfaces ofthe sides of the housing Thus the plate isheld against longitudinal displacement but can be readily swung upwardly or removed. Longitudinal slots 18 extend into the plate from the front end thereoi and the front end of the plate is provided, between the slots,,withfiat stiffening folds 19 constitutin weights; I w a ,iountedto" slide on the housing 1 and bridgi gthe space between the walls of the housing is a feeding member 20 to the'be'tto m off which are connected devices, indicated at 2l,.fo'r. engaging and shifting the strip material when the member 20 is moved forwardly and for slipping over said material moved rearwardly. Thesedevices are-of any desired construction but, arepr'eferably of-the type disclosed 1 in Fig. 2 and consist of a preferred number oii pivoted fingers having downwardly and ferwardly inclined pointed terminalsv 22.

This iieeding' means, in it'se'lh. constitutes no part ofthe' presentinve'ntion. v

Formed along" or secured to the feeding slide 20 is, a longitudinal series or finger 23 which are consecutivelynumbered from 1 upwardly beginwith the reanmember23. These'numbersindicate the number of strips of stamps or the like which will be dispensed from the machine' when the: feeding slide is actuated by placing a finger in the respective membersi23. An index card 24 is arranged on the slide 20 in close proximity to the members 23' and is provided with columns of numbers parallel with and at opposite sides; of the, members 23. One column. of numbers, indicated at, 25' is rear end with the designation Number of and ii the strip material in the machineis madeup of ten rows Cram s the first numeral in the column 25 will be 10 indicating that when one row of stamps is fed tromithe machines total of ten stamps will be dispensed. Thesecond numeral n the column 25 willbe' 20,;the tlgl-ird 30 These nuand so on in multiples of 10.

merals register with the cerresponding mein- 60,

here 23,; as shown, The other column of numeralsindicated ait 261 and located at the other side of the members 23 provided for infdicating the!v value; oif the strips; or

. was; e s amp j isp ed;- F r exa p e. if

each stamp 13 valuedat2 the numeral 20 cf the cutting wheel 7 while mentioned.

the index (lGSCI'llQGd is for use in connection to a counter 31 is extended upwardly back of the abutment 7 provided at the distance.

to slide along the spiral!v and rotate itwith= I out 7 operating the counter;

' fingers .21 would engage the of the numerals in column 25. Beyond the rear end of the series of members 23 may be arranged characters to indicate the value of each stamp. For example, if the strip material is made up oi'two cent stamps the characters 2e can be placed at the place It is to be understood that while with stamps, and more especially with two cent stamps, said index can be changed for use with stamps of other values, and for use with tickets, in strip form. 7

A cover 27 is connected to the housing in any manner desired. In the present instance it is hinged thereto, as at 2'8 but it is to be understood that it can be connected in.

any other way preferred. The front end of the cover overhangs the the slide 20 and forms an abutment 29. In this abutment is iournaled one end of a spiral 30 the other end of which is connected carried by the cover 27 and operatedwhen the spiral is direction. A slottedear 32 from therear portion adapted to be rotated in one of the slide 20 and and the spiral 30 normally rests in the slot in this car. A weight 33 can be connected to the cover for holding it in; closed position and for limiting the elevation thereof.

If a customer; asks for stamps either by their number, their value or the number of rows, the user can instantly place a finger in proper position for dispensing the number of stamps desired; For example if a customer should ask iortwenty stamps the finger of the'user would be placed in the member 23 registering with the number 20 in column. 25. The plate or slide 20 would then be moved rearwardly by means of this finger until i the finger contacts with the abutment 29 This movement would cause the terminals 22 of fingers 21 to slide backwardly over-the stamps a predetermined It would also cause: the ear 32 The slide. 20 would then be moved. forwardly to its initial positionand during this operation the a strip material and slide it between th'epartition 3* and the guide plate 15, causing two strips "or rows checks, and other articles I rear portion of of stamps to project forwardly beyond the cutting strip 11. At the same time the retation of the spiral 80 by the ear 32 would 7 same position at the beginning of the operation had the customer called for 40 worth of stamps or for two rows of stamps.

When the machine is employed for dispensing stamps in rows of ten each the counter can be provided with a stationary cipher as shown at 34 so that the counting will be by tens.

It is to be understood that the machine can be constructed for use in connection with strip material made up of less or more than ten rows and, while it is especially useful for dispensing stamps, it is equally advantageous for dispensing tickets and other articles in strip form.

What is claimed is 1. A vending machine including means for supporting strip material a movable element thereabove having finger receiving members, means cotiperating with a finger inserted into a member for limiting the movement of said element in one direction, means carried by said element for moving the strip material in the opposite direction, and separate means at opposite sides of each finger receiving member adapted to be indicated by the inserted finger for designating the number and value respectively of articles vended by the placing of afinger in said member.

2. A vending machine including means for supporting strip material, a feeding element mounted for reciprocation, separate finger receiving members movable therewith, means in the path of a finger en-.

gaging any one of said members for limiting the movement of the feeding element,

means along one side of said members for indicating t e number of articles vended by the positioning of a finger in the respective members, and means along the other side of said members adapted to be indicated by the finger engaging a receiving member, for

designating the total value of the vended articles.

3. In a vending machine the combination with a feeding element, an abutment, and finger receiving members movable with the element and relative to the abutment, said members being numbered to indicate the number of units of material vended by actuation of the feeding element by the placing of a finger in the respective members, of

means along the sides of said members and movable therewith adapted to be indicated by the operating finger for designating the number of parts in the vended unit or units and the value of said units, respectively.

4. In a vending machine the combination with a housing and means therein for supporting strip material, of a combined weight and guide plate adapted to rest upon said strip material, said plate having transverse stiffening means at each end, there being a longitudinal slot in the plate intersecting the stiffening means at one end, cooperating means upon the plate and housing for holding the plate against longitudinal displacement, a slidable feeding element upon the housing and above the plate, and means carried by said element and movable in the slot for engaging and moving the strip material relative to the plate. 5. In a vending machine the combination with means for supporting strip material, and means mounted for back and forth movement for feeding the strip material from the machine in measured lengths, of a stationary cutting strip below the path of the vended material, a cutting wheel movable along said strip and transversely of the vended strip to sever the strip material, and means for automatically returning the wheel to normal position when released. I

6. In a vending machine the combination with means for supporting strip material, and means mounted for back and forth movement for feeding the strip material from the machine in measured lengths, of a stationary cutting strip extending transversely of the vended material, a cutting wheel movable along said strip to sever the strip material, cooperating stationary and movable means for multiplying the rotation of the wheel during such movement.

7. In a vending machine the combination with means for supporting strip material, and means mounted for back and forth movement for feeding the strip material from the machine in measured lengths, of a stationary cutting strip extending transversely of the vended material, a cutting wheel movable along said strip to sever thestrip material, and cooperating stationary and movable means for multiplying the rotation of the wheel during such movement, said means including a rack and a gear revoluble with the wheel and adapted to roll upon the rack.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto afiixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM G. TEMPLETON.

Witnesses:

HERBERT D. LAwsoN, I. E. SIMrsoN. 

